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'Those exposing BJP's bigotry…': Oppn condemns Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair's arrest
Alt News co-founder Zubair Mohammed received huge support from the Opposition leaders following his arrest by the Delhi Police.
An outrage erupted on social media platforms soon after the Delhi Police arrested journalist and co-founder of leading fact-checking platform Alt News Mohammed Zubair on Monday evening.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said anyone exposing BJP's “hate bigotry and lies is a threat” to them.
“Every person exposing BJP's hate, bigotry and lies is a threat to them. Arresting one voice of truth will only give rise to a thousand more. Truth ALWAYS triumphs over tyranny,” Gandhi wrote on Twitter, sharing a news report.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who was among the firsts to react, said, “India’s few fact-checking services, especially Alt News, perform a vital service in our post-truth political environment, rife with disinformation. They debunk falsehoods, whoever perpetrates them. To arrest Mohammed Zubair is an assault on truth. He should be released immediately.”
Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah “cowards” over Zubair’s arrest.
“Strongly condemn the arrest of one of the world’s finest journalists @zoo_bear who exposes the BJP’s #FakeNews factory every single day. PM @narendramodi and @AmitShah for the all power you wield, you are essentially COWARDS,” he tweeted.
A leader from K Chandrashekhar Rao's Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Y Satish Reddy, also extended his support to the journalist with the hashtag ‘#IStandWithZubair’ and condemned the incident.
Twitter users across sectors, including journalists, politicians, activists and general users, have been showing solidarity with the fact-checker, condemning the recent atrocities on journalists.
Zubair was arrested on charges of hurting religious sentiments under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“Today, during the course of investigation of a case registered at PS-Special Cell u/s 153A/295A IPC, alleged Mohammed Zubair was joined in the investigation of the case and after having sufficient evidence on record, he was arrested in the present case,” said DCP Special Cell KPS Malhotra.
Zubair's colleague and Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha, later shared a Twitter statement, saying Zubair was called by the special cell, Delhi, for investigation in a 2020 case for which he already had a protection from the high court. “No FIR copy is being given to us despite repeated requests,” he wrote.
Zubair's arrest comes on the same day when renowned journalist Rana Ayyub's Twitter handle was withheld in India. The journalist posted a notice from Twitter which informed her that the microblogging site has barred her account in India under the Information Technology Act, 2000.
